A major area of interest in the fragrance industry is to find high odour impact fragrance materials which can provide superior performance at lower concentrations giving cost savings and lower environmental impact.
Muguet (Lily of the Valley) is an important area in perfumery (M Boelens and H Wobben, Perfumer & Flavorist, 1980, 5 (6), 1-8) and the odour is created by a combination of fragrance ingredients, each providing a different facet to the complex odour character. There are a number of aldehydic materials that possess alicyclic terpenoid-like structures are non-aromatic and possess odour characters valuable for muguet accords eg Trimenal™, Adoxal™ and Profarnesal™.

Structurally based on such materials, citronellyl oxy-acetaldehyde (1) is a valuable ingredient which is described as possessing a powerful, moderately diffusive, green, rosy, sweet Lily-Muguet-like odour (S. Arctander, Perfume And Flavor Chemicals, 1969).
